I struggled with "Is God Is." We know we aren't in the realm of realism--because the two protagonists refer to their mother as "God," and they're being sincere. I've thought a fair amount about the off-putting title, and I assume it's a reference to the idea of twins. The two starring roles are for twins. They are daughters of God. One on each side of God.
We're in the world of the ancient Greeks. God's husband throws God in a bathtub--then sets Her on fire. Many years later, God is out for revenge. She is too damaged to fight. So she sends her daughters to kill their father. This story evokes thoughts of Medea, Oedipus, the House of Atreus. God's nurses are like the Furies. We might also wonder if God is telling the whole truth--for example, why isn't there a clear explanation of how the two daughters ended up *next to* their mother in the bathtub?
The movie's success depends on the actor playing Man--and, here, the director was fortunate to have recruited Sterling K. Brown. Brown is both monstrous and seductive; at times, it seems that he might actually walk *around* the trap that his daughters have set for him. The movie ends where it begins--in a kind of hell, with tongues of flame. The final minutes made me think of "The Grifters" (another story of murder within one family).
I can't say I had a great time watching this film, but the script is weightier than most recent scripts. And I'll always pay to see Sterling K. Brown. I hope he'll get other roles as showy as this.
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